Cloth-folding machine



(No Model.)

' W. A. RICHARDSON.

CLOTH FOLDING MAUHINE.

Patented July 28, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIE ADDISON RICHARDSON, OF \VOROESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

CLOTH-FOLDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 456,851, dated July 28,1891. Applioationfiled September 27, 1886. SerialNo. 214,670. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIE ADDISON Rrcrr ARDSON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and-a resident of Vorcester, in the county of Worcester andState of Massachusetts, have in vented a new and useful Improvement inCloth-Folding Machines, of which the following is a specificationcontaining a full, clear, and exact description of the nature of myinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, accompanied bydrawings forming a part of my specification, and in which Figure 1 is aside view of a cloth-folding machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is adetached sectional view of the flexible apron and device for applyingfriction to the cloth to be folded with adjoining parts. Fig. 3 is adetached view of the mechanism for opening the jaws in order to receivethe several folds of cloth. device for applying friction to the cloth.Fig. 5 represents a portion of the mechanism for opening the jaws, andFig. 6. is an enlarged View of a portion of the crank-arm.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several views.

My invention relates to that class of clothfolding machines in which thecloth is folded at regular spaces, making the several folds of a uniformand predetermined length. The mechanism directly concerned in theoperation of folding is substantially the same as in thefolding-machines now in use, my present invention relating moreparticularly to that part of the machine by which the cloth is fed tothe folding mechanism and also to the construction and arrangement ofthe mechanism for actuating the folding mechanism, as hereinafterdescribed, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

A A denotes the frame of the machine, and B a shaft placed transverselyacross the machine carrying the cams O O and crank D.

E is a vibrating arm pivoted at a and actuated by the crank D throughthe connectingrod Z). The vibratory motion of the arm E is conveyed bythe connecting-rod E to the rod F pivoted at o and carrying at the upperend the folding-blade F, which is moved in the are indicated by thebroken line (Z over the table G and alternately between Fig. 4 shows aportion of the held by the jaws while thefolder is employed in formingthe next succeeding fold. The motion of the folding-blade is varied inextent by moving the crank-pin e in the slot e in the end of thecrank-arm D and maintain ing it at the required distance from the axis 7of rotation by means of the set-screws e 6 held in the lugs e e on thecrank-arm.

The mechanism for actuating the foldingblade, consisting of the crank D,vibrating arm E, and their connecting-rods b and E, are duplicated onthe opposite side of the machine, (not shown in the drawings,)'wherebythe vibratory motion is imparted to both ends of the folding-blade,holding it parallel with the shaft B. The jawsf and f are fixed, and thejaws g and g, formed on the outer edges of the table G, are hinged at hand connected by links it" with the sectorsjj, which are attached to theshafts H.

Upon each of the shafts II are placed spiral springs I, one of which ispartially shown in Fig. 5. One end of each of these springs is attachedto the rigid frame-Work of the machine and the other end to the collar.I, which is attached to the shaft H, so that the torsional force of thespring will serve to hold the hinged jaws against the fixed jaws in theusual and Well-known manner of applying the force of a torsional spring.Turning upon the shafts H are levers whose long arms K rest upon and areraised by the cams O O, and their short arms K carry pawls Z, whichengage the teeth Z upon the sectors j j ,and their connected hinged jawsare brought down by the action of the cams O O as the levers K areraised, thereby opening the jaws at the proper time to allow thefolding-blade to enter.

Attached to the frame of the machine are the curved bars Z with theirfree ends extending partially over the toothed surfaces of v the sectorsjj', serving as shield-plates, upon which the pawls ride during theupper portion of their oscillating motion. As the pawls move downwardoff the shields Z they engage the first exposed tooth, carrying thesectors down and openingthe cloth-holding jaws,

loo

so that the blade may carry a fold of the cloth between them, and assuccessive folds of cloth are carried between the jaws they are heldopen and the sectors held at each fold farther down, exposing more ofthe toothed surface to be engaged by the pawls in their next downwardmotion. The cloth is conducted to the folding-blade through the rolls LL and over an apron M, table N, with side guides to determine thealignment of the cloth, and over a roll N to the folding-blade F in themanner common in machines of this class. It is, however, customary toemploy an apron of wood or sheet metal and to secure the requiredfriction on the cloth by means of a drag placed upon the cloth as itmoves over the table N. In my present improved machlne I use a flexibleapron, and the required friction on the cloth is secured by africtionbar 0, pivoted by a link m to the frame and held against thecloth by a brace-bar n, having notches a engaging a pin n on the frameN. As it is required to increase the friction, the friction-bar iscarried beneath the table, causing the cloth and flexible apron to forman acute angle with the table N.

In practice it is usual to feed the cloth into the apron in advance ofthe operation of foldng, so that aquantity of cloth 0 will remain 1n theapron while the process of folding is going on. By using a flexibleapron I am able to regulate the pressure exerted by the friction bar onthe cloth by varying the amount of cloth held on the apron, any increaseof weight on the apron tending to draw the flexible apron in a straightline as it passes over the friction-bar 0.

It has been customary in folding-machines now in use to actuate thefolding-bar by a crank connected directly with the foldingbar, saidcrank being placed upon a shaft at the end of the machine. Thisconstruction requires a much larger amount of floor-space for themachine, as one-half of the sweep of the crank is outside of the frame.I render the machine more compact by placing the actuating-shaft Bdirectly beneath the table and causing the cams O O to act immediatelyupon the levers K, which carry the actuating-pawls. The friction-bar Ois pivoted in the links on and brace-bars 'n, so that the face 0 whichis preferably made curved, may rest equally against the cloth atwhatever angle it may form with the table N, which in the machine shownin the drawings consists of the bars 7" 55 T, which extend across themachine from side to side and hold the side guides r \Vhat I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a rigid bar over which the cloth passes, anadjustable f rictionbar parallel with said rigid bar, means connectedwith said friction-bar, substantially as described, whereby saidfriction-bar is adjusted with reference to said rigid bar, and aflexible apron having a sagged portion con taining a portion of thecloth to be folded and having one end attached to said rigid bar andhaving said adjustable bar resting against the apron to press it out ofa straight line from the rigid bar to the sagged portion, so that theweight of the cloth on the apron will be applied to hold the apronagainst the adjustable friction -bar, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a rigid bar over which the cloth passes, anadjustable bar attached to the frame bya pivoted link, and a notchedbrace-rod engaging a pin on the frame by which the adjustable bar isheld against the cloth, substantially as described.

3. The combinatiomwith a stationary folding-bed provided withcloth-holding jaws, of a folding-blade having a vibratory movement oversaid bed, swinging rods F, vibrating levers E, links E and b,actuating-crank D, a shaft B, placed beneath the folding-bed, cams O Con said shaft l3, actuating said cloth-holding jaws, and connectingmechanism between said cams and said cloth-holding jaws, substantiallyas described.

4. The combination, with a stationary foldin g-bed provided withcloth-holding jaws and a folding-blade having a vibratory movement oversaid bed, of the shaft B, placed beneath the bed, cams C O on the shaftB, pivoted levers having arms K K and carrying pawls Z, toothed sectorsj j, shafts H H, carrying said sectors, springs applied to said shaftsto raise said sectors and hold the jaws together, and hinged leavesforming a part of said clothholdiug jaws and connected bylinks with saidtoothed sectors, substantially as described.

WILLIE ADDISON RICHARDSON. \Vitnesses:

HORACE A. RICHARDSON, RUFUS B. FOWLER.

